Ultrasound diagnosis apparatus connected to wireless ultrasound probes and method of operating the same

ABSTRACT

Provided are an ultrasound diagnosis apparatus connected to wireless ultrasound probes and a method of operating the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus. The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus includes: a communicator connected with a plurality of different wireless probes through a wireless communication method by receiving pairing reception signals from the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes; a controller configured to control the communicator to wirelessly connect the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus with the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes and to wirelessly receive status information regarding the connected plurality of wireless ultrasound probes; and a display configured to display a user interface (UI) indicating the received status information regarding the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.62/550,054, filed on Aug. 25, 2017, in the US Patent Office and KoreanPatent Application No. 10-2017-0181453, filed on Dec. 27, 2017, in theKorean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosures of which areincorporated herein in their entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

The present disclosure relates to ultrasound diagnosis apparatusesconnected to wireless ultrasound probes and methods of operating theultrasound diagnosis apparatuses, and more particularly, to ultrasounddiagnosis apparatuses paired with a plurality of wireless ultrasoundprobes and operation methods for displaying status information regardingthe paired plurality of wireless ultrasound probes on a display of theultrasound diagnosis apparatus.

2. Description of Related Art

Ultrasound systems transmit ultrasound signals generated by transducersof an ultrasound probe to an internal part of an object and receiveinformation about echo signals reflected therefrom, thereby obtaining animage of the internal part of the object. In particular, ultrasoundsystems are used for medical purposes including observation of aninternal area of an object, detection of foreign substances, diagnosisof damage to the object, and imaging of characteristics.

Wireless ultrasound probes connected to an ultrasound diagnosisapparatus by using wireless communication are nowadays being developedin order to improve the operability of an ultrasound probe by removing acommunication cable for transmitting and receiving ultrasound image databetween the ultrasound probe and the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus andeliminating the inconvenience caused by the communication cable.However, at the present time, an ultrasound diagnosis apparatusincluding a wireless ultrasound probe may contain only one wirelessultrasound probe, and only one wireless ultrasound probe may beconnected to the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus. Furthermore, even whenan ultrasound diagnosis apparatus includes a plurality of wirelessultrasound probes, only one of the plurality of wireless ultrasoundprobes may be paired to the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus. Thus, in thecase that a user desires to use a wireless ultrasound probe other than awireless ultrasound probe currently paired to the ultrasound diagnosisapparatus, the user suffers the inconvenience of having to disconnectthe paired wireless ultrasound probe and pair the desired wirelessultrasound probe again.

SUMMARY

Provided are ultrasound diagnosis apparatuses simultaneously connectedwith a plurality of wireless ultrasound probes and configured to displaya user interface (UI) indicating identification (ID) informationregarding the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes connected thereto.The ultrasound diagnosis apparatuses may display UIs indicating statusinformation regarding the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes pairedusing a wireless communication method.

Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description whichfollows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may belearned by practice of the presented embodiments.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, an ultrasounddiagnosis apparatus includes: a communicator connected with a pluralityof different wireless probes through a wireless communication method byreceiving pairing reception signals from the plurality of wirelessultrasound probes; a controller configured to control the communicatorto wirelessly connect the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus with theplurality of wireless ultrasound probes and to wirelessly receive statusinformation regarding the connected plurality of wireless ultrasoundprobes; and a display configured to display a user interface (UI)indicating the received status information regarding the plurality ofwireless ultrasound probes.

For example, the communicator may include a plurality of communicationmodules paired one-to-one with the plurality of wireless ultrasoundprobes and configured to respectively transmit or receive ultrasoundimage data to or from the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes.

The communicator may be connected with the plurality of wirelessultrasound probes by using at least one of wireless communicationmethods including a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), WirelessFidelity (Wi-Fi), Bluetooth, Zigbee, Wi-Fi Direct (WFD), Infrared DataAssociation (IrDA), Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Near Field Communication(NFC), Wireless Broadband Internet (WiBro), World Interoperability forMicrowave Access (WiMAX), Shared Wireless Access Protocol (SWAP),Wireless Gigabit Alliance (WiGig), and radio frequency (RF)communication.

The communicator may be configured to acquire insert information about awireless ultrasound probe inserted into a holder of the ultrasounddiagnosis apparatus, among the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes.The controller may be further configured to detect the wirelessultrasound probe inserted into the holder, based on the insertinformation, and the display may be further configured to displayconnection information regarding the wireless ultrasound probe detectedamong the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes.

The display may be further configured to display a UI indicating thestatus information including at least one of an identification (ID), awireless communication frequency, a connection type, a supportedapplication, a wireless communication method, a communication status,battery charging information, a remaining battery capacity, and a timeleft for use with respect to each of the plurality of wirelessultrasound probes.

The communicator may be configured to receive, from an activatedwireless ultrasound probe, ultrasound raw data generated by the wirelessultrasound probe activated among the plurality of wireless ultrasoundprobes, and the display may be further configured to display a UIindicating a type of a wireless communication method used to transmitand receive ultrasound data to and from the activated wirelessultrasound probe.

The UI may include characters indicating identifications (IDs) of theplurality of wireless ultrasound probes and thumbnail imagesrepresenting shapes thereof.

The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus may further include a user inputinterface configured to receive a user input of selecting one of theplurality of wireless ultrasound probes, and the communicator may beconfigured to transmit an activation signal for operating a firstwireless ultrasound probe selected among the plurality of wirelessultrasound probes, based on the user input to transmit ultrasoundsignals to an object. The display may be further configured to displaythe first wireless ultrasound probe that has received the activationsignal to be distinguished from the unselected ones of the plurality ofwireless ultrasound probes.

The controller may be further configured to generate a beamformercontrol signal for controlling a beamformer included in each of theplurality of wireless ultrasound probes and control the communicator totransmit the generated beamformer control signal to the activated firstwireless ultrasound probe.

The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus may further include a sound outputunit configured to output a preset sound when the plurality of wirelessultrasound probes are connected wirelessly to the ultrasound diagnosisapparatus.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, a method ofoperating an ultrasound diagnosis apparatus includes: connecting aplurality of different wireless ultrasound probes with the ultrasounddiagnosis apparatus by using a wireless communication method; receivingstatus information regarding the plurality of wireless ultrasoundprobes; and displaying a user interface (UI) indicating the receivedstatus information regarding the plurality of wireless ultrasoundprobes.

The connecting of the plurality of different wireless ultrasound probeswith the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus may include: pairing wirelesscommunication modules in the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus; one-to-onewith the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes; and transmitting andreceiving ultrasound image data respectively to and from the pluralityof wireless ultrasound probes.

The connecting of the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes with theultrasound diagnosis apparatus may include connecting the plurality ofwireless ultrasound probes with the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus byusing at least one of wireless communication methods including aWireless Local Area Network (WLAN), wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi),Bluetooth, Zigbee, Wi-Fi Direct (WFD), Infrared Data Association (IrDA),Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Near Field Communication (NFC), WirelessBroadband Internet (WiBro), World Interoperability for Microwave Access(WiMAX), Shared Wireless Access Protocol (SWAP), Wireless GigabitAlliance (WiGig), and radio frequency (RF) communication.

The connecting of the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes with theultrasound diagnosis apparatus may include: acquiring insert informationabout a wireless ultrasound probe inserted into a holder of theultrasound diagnosis apparatus, among the plurality of wirelessultrasound probes; detecting the wireless ultrasound probe inserted intothe holder, based on the insert information; and displaying pairinginformation regarding the wireless ultrasound probe detected among theplurality of wireless ultrasound probes.

The displaying of the UI may include displaying a UI indicating thestatus information including at least one of an identification (ID), awireless communication frequency, a connection type, a supportedapplication, a wireless communication method, a communication status,battery charging information, a remaining battery capacity, and a timeleft for use with respect to each of the plurality of wirelessultrasound probes.

The method may further include receiving, from an activated wirelessultrasound probe, ultrasound raw data generated by the wirelessultrasound probe activated among the plurality of wireless ultrasoundprobes, and the displaying of the UI may include displaying a UIindicating a type of a wireless communication method used to transmitand receive ultrasound data to and from the activated wirelessultrasound probe.

The displaying of the UI may include displaying characters indicatingidentifications (IDs) of the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes andthumbnail images representing shapes thereof.

The method may further include: receiving a user input of selecting oneof the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes; transmitting anactivation signal for operating a first wireless ultrasound probeselected among the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes based on theuser input to transmit ultrasound signals to an object; and displayingthe first wireless ultrasound probe that has received the activationsignal to be distinguished from the unselected ones of the plurality ofwireless ultrasound probes.

The method may further include generating a beamformer control signalfor controlling a beamformer included in each of the plurality ofwireless ultrasound probes and transmitting the generated beamformercontrol signal to the activated first wireless ultrasound probe.

The method may further include outputting a preset sound when theplurality of wireless ultrasound probes are connected wirelessly to theultrasound diagnosis apparatus.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, acomputer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a computerprogram including instructions for performing operations of: connectinga plurality of different wireless ultrasound probes with an ultrasounddiagnosis apparatus by using a wireless communication method; receivingstatus information regarding the plurality of wireless ultrasoundprobes; and displaying a user interface (UI) indicating the receivedstatus information regarding the plurality of wireless ultrasoundprobes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects will become apparent and more readilyappreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example in which anultrasound diagnosis apparatus is connected with a plurality of wirelessultrasound probes and displays status information regarding theplurality of wireless ultrasound probes connected thereto, according toan embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a configuration of an ultrasound systemaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a configuration of an ultrasound systemaccording to another embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method of operating an ultrasound diagnosisapparatus, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method, performed by an ultrasound diagnosisapparatus, of transmitting or receiving a pairing signal and ultrasoundimage data to or from a wireless ultrasound probe, according to anembodiment;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example in which an ultrasound diagnosis apparatusdisplays status information regarding a plurality of wireless ultrasoundprobes connected thereto, according to an embodiment;

FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams illustrating examples in which anultrasound diagnosis apparatus displays information about a status ofits communication with a plurality of wireless ultrasound probesconnected thereto, according to embodiments;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a method, performed by an ultrasound diagnosisapparatus, of acquiring ultrasound image data by using a wirelessultrasound probe selected based on a user input, according to anembodiment;

FIG. 9 illustrates a user interface (UI) indicating a wirelessultrasound probe activated among a plurality of wireless ultrasoundprobes, based on a user input, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a configuration of an ultrasound diagnosisapparatus including a wireless ultrasound probe, according to anembodiment; and

FIGS. 11A through 11C are diagrams illustrating ultrasound diagnosisapparatuses according to embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Advantages and features of one or more embodiments of the presentinvention and methods of accomplishing the same may be understood morereadily by reference to the following detailed description of theembodiments and the accompanying drawings. In this regard, the presentembodiments may have different forms and should not be construed asbeing limited to the descriptions set forth herein. Rather, theseembodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough andcomplete and will fully convey the concept of the present embodiments toone of ordinary skill in the art, and the present invention will only bedefined by the appended claims.

Terms used herein will now be briefly described and then one or moreembodiments of the present invention will be described in detail.

All terms including descriptive or technical terms which are used hereinshould be construed as having meanings that are obvious to one ofordinary skill in the art. However, the terms may have differentmeanings according to the intention of one of ordinary skill in the art,precedent cases, or the appearance of new technologies. Also, some termsmay be arbitrarily selected by the applicant, and in this case, themeaning of the selected terms will be described in detail in thedetailed description of the invention. Thus, the terms used herein haveto be defined based on the meaning of the terms together with thedescription throughout the specification.

When a part “includes” or “comprises” an element, unless there is aparticular description contrary thereto, the part can further includeother elements, not excluding the other elements. Also, the term “unit”in the embodiments of the present invention means a software componentor hardware component such as a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) oran application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and performs aspecific function. However, the term “unit” is not limited to softwareor hardware. The “unit” may be formed so as to be in an addressablestorage medium, or may be formed so as to operate one or moreprocessors. Thus, for example, the term “unit” may refer to componentssuch as software components, object-oriented software components, classcomponents, and task components, and may include processes, functions,attributes, procedures, subroutines, segments of program code, drivers,firmware, micro codes, circuits, data, a database, data structures,tables, arrays, or variables. A function provided by the components and“units” may be associated with the smaller number of components and“units”, or may be divided into additional components and “units”.

In the present specification, an “object” may be a human, an animal, ora part of a human or animal. For example, the object may be an organ(e.g., the liver, the heart, the womb, the brain, a breast, or theabdomen), a blood vessel, or a combination thereof. Furthermore, the“object” may be a phantom. The phantom means a material having adensity, an effective atomic number, and a volume that are approximatelythe same as those of an organism. For example, the phantom may be aspherical phantom having properties similar to the human body.

Furthermore, in the present specification, a “user” may be, but is notlimited to, a medical expert, such as a medical doctor, a nurse, amedical laboratory technologist, and a technician who repairs a medicalapparatus.

Furthermore, in the present specification, the terms “first”, “second”,“1-1”, etc. are only used to distinguish one component, element, object,image, pixel, or patch from another component, element, object, image,pixel, or patch. Thus, these terms are not limited to representing theorder or priority among elements or components. Expressions such as “atleast one of,” when preceding a list of elements, modify the entire listof elements and do not modify the individual elements of the list.

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of whichare illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In this regard, thepresent embodiments may have different forms and should not be construedas being limited to the descriptions set forth herein. In the followingdescription, well-known functions or constructions are not described indetail so as not to obscure the embodiments with unnecessary detail.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example in which anultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 is connected with a plurality ofwireless ultrasound probes 201 through 204 and displays statusinformation regarding the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes 201through 204 connected thereto, according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 may beconnected with the wireless ultrasound probes 201 through 204 includingfirst through fourth wireless ultrasound probes 201 through 204 by usinga wireless communication method. Although FIG. 1 shows that theultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 is a cart type apparatus, it may beimplemented as a portable type apparatus. Examples of portableultrasound diagnosis apparatuses may include, but are not limited to, apicture archiving and communication system (PACS) viewer, a hand-carriedcardiac ultrasound (HCU) device, a smartphone, a laptop computer, apersonal digital assistant (PDA), and a tablet PC.

In an embodiment, the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 may be anapparatus configured to generate an ultrasound image by processingultrasound image data received from one of the wireless ultrasoundprobes 201 through 204 and display the generated image, or be anapparatus for implementing only an image display function withoutperforming a separate image processing function.

Each of the wireless ultrasound probes 201 through 204 may transmitultrasound signals to an object and receive echo signals reflected fromthe object to thereby produce reception signals. Each of the wirelessultrasound probes 201 through 204 may also perform image processing onthe reception signals to thereby generate ultrasound image data and thentransmit the generated ultrasound image data to the ultrasound diagnosisapparatus 100.

Although a total of four (4) wireless ultrasound probes 201 through 204are shown throughout the specification including FIG. 1, this is merelyan example, and the number of wireless ultrasound probes connected tothe ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 is not limited to 4. The wirelessultrasound probes 201 through 204 may each be different types of probeshaving different functions, but embodiments are not limited thereto.

The wireless ultrasound probes 201 through 204 may be connected to theultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 by using a wireless communicationmethod. In this case, “connected” may mean a state in which theultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 is paired to use at least one of thewireless ultrasound probes 201 through 204. Even when the ultrasounddiagnosis apparatus 100 is connected with the wireless ultrasound probes201 through 204, it does not mean that the ultrasound diagnosisapparatus 100 may use all of the wireless ultrasound probes 201 through204 to transmit ultrasound signals to the object. “Pairing” isconceptually different from “activation”, as will be described in moredetail below with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9.

For example, the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 may be connectedwirelessly with the wireless ultrasound probes 201 through 204 by usinglocal area wireless communication. For example, the ultrasound diagnosisapparatus 100 may be wirelessly paired with the wireless ultrasoundprobes 201 through 204 by using at least one of data communicationmethods including a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), WirelessFidelity (Wi-Fi), Bluetooth, Zigbee, Wi-Fi Direct (WFD), Infrared DataAssociation (IrDA), Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Near Field Communication(NFC), Wireless Broadband Internet (WiBro), World Interoperability forMicrowave Access (WiMAX), Shared Wireless Access Protocol (SWAP),Wireless Gigabit Alliance (WiGig), and radio frequency (RF)communication.

According to an embodiment, the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 mayreceive ultrasound raw data generated and digital-converted by awireless ultrasound probe activated among the wireless ultrasound probe201 through 204 by using a 60-GHz millimeter wave (mmWave) local areacommunication method. However, embodiments are not limited thereto, andthe ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 may receive, through a WLAN orWi-Fi, ultrasound image data that is used to construct an ultrasoundimage via an activated wireless ultrasound probe.

The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 may display a user interface (UI)indicating status information regarding the wireless ultrasound probes201 through 204 on a display 130. According to an embodiment, thedisplay 130 may display a UI indicating status information including atleast one of a wireless communication frequency, a connection type, asupported application, a wireless communication method, a communicationstatus, battery charging information, a remaining battery capacity, anda time left for use with respect to each of the wireless ultrasoundprobes 201 through 204 connected wirelessly to the ultrasound diagnosisapparatus 100. For example, the display 130 may display a first UI 141indicating a status of a wireless communication connection with theultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100, a second UI 142 indicating awireless pairing method for connecting to the ultrasound diagnosisapparatus 100, a third UI 143 indicating a communication method fortransmitting or receiving ultrasound image data to or from theultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100, and a fourth UI 144 indicating aremaining battery capacity or whether a battery is being charged.Furthermore, the display 130 may display a fifth UI 145 indicating IDinformation of each of the wireless ultrasound probes 201 through 204connected wirelessly to the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100. UIsindicating status information will be described in more detail belowwith reference to FIGS. 6, 7A, and 7B.

The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 may display on the display 130connection states of the wireless ultrasound probes 201 through 204 thatare connected wirelessly thereto, and embodiments are not limitedthereto. According to an embodiment, the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus100 may output a preset sound when wirelessly connected with thewireless ultrasound probes 201 through 204. Furthermore, in anotherembodiment, the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 may output differentsounds respectively according to ID information of the wirelessultrasound probes 201 through 204. For example, when the first andsecond wireless ultrasound probes 201 and 202 are respectively connectedto the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100, the ultrasound diagnosisapparatus 100 may output first and second sounds, respectively.

A conventional ultrasound system including a wireless ultrasound probeincludes only one wireless ultrasound probe, or even when the ultrasoundsystem includes a plurality of wireless ultrasound probes, only one ofthe wireless ultrasound probes may be wirelessly paired thereto. Thus,when a user desires to use a wireless ultrasound probe other than awireless ultrasound probe currently being paired, the user suffers theinconvenience of having to disconnect the paired wireless ultrasoundprobe and then pair the desired wireless ultrasound probe again.

On the other hand, the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 according tothe present embodiment may be wirelessly paired with the wirelessultrasound probes 201 through 204 simultaneously. Thus, when the userdesires to use one of the wireless ultrasound probes 201 through 204,this configuration may allow the user to immediately use the desiredwireless ultrasound probe without a separate additional pairing process,thereby increasing user convenience. Furthermore, the ultrasounddiagnosis apparatus 100 may display a UI indicating status informationincluding connection states of the wireless ultrasound probes 201through 204 such that the user may easily identify a wireless connectionstate, a wireless communication method, and a remaining battery capacityof each of the wireless ultrasound probes 201 through 204.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a configuration of an ultrasound systemaccording to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 2, the ultrasound system may include an ultrasounddiagnosis apparatus 100 and a plurality of wireless ultrasound probes201 through 204. The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 may beimplemented not only as a cart type apparatus but also as a portabletype apparatus. Examples of portable ultrasound diagnosis apparatusesmay include, but are not limited to, a PACS viewer, a HCU device, asmartphone, a laptop computer, a PDA, and a tablet PC.

In an embodiment, the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 may be anapparatus configured to generate an ultrasound image by processingultrasound image data received from one of the wireless ultrasoundprobes 201 through 204 and display the generated image, or be anapparatus for implementing only an image display function withoutperforming a separate image processing function.

The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 may include a communicator 110, acontroller 120, and a display 130. The communicator 110 may be connectedsimultaneously with the wireless ultrasound probes 201 through 204 byusing a wireless communication method. For example, the communicator 110may simultaneously be paired wirelessly with the wireless ultrasoundprobes 201 through 204 by using at least one of wireless communicationtechniques including a WLAN, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, WFD, IrDA, BLE,NFC, WiBro, WiMAX, SWAP, WiGig, and RF communication method.

According to an embodiment, the communicator 110 may include a wirelesscommunication module for pairing with the wireless ultrasound probes 201through 204 and a data communication module for receiving ultrasound rawdata generated by a wireless ultrasound probe that is activated amongthe wireless ultrasound probes 201 through 204. The communicator 110 mayinclude a 60-GHz mmWave data communication module and receive raw datavia the 60-GHz mmWave data communication module. To acquire the rawdata, a wireless ultrasound probe activated among the wirelessultrasound probes transmits ultrasound signals to the object, processesreceived ultrasound echo signals, and performs analog-to-digitalconversion on the resulting signals. The wireless ultrasound probes 201through 204 may be wirelessly paired to the ultrasound diagnosisapparatus 100 simultaneously, but only one of the wireless ultrasoundprobes 201 through 204 may be activated. Thus, the communicator 110 mayinclude one 60-GHz mmWave data communication module for performing datacommunication with the one activated wireless ultrasound probe.

In another embodiment, the communicator 110 may not include the 60-GHzmmWave data communication module. When a wireless ultrasound probe thatis activated among the wireless ultrasound probes 201 through 204directly transmits to the display 130 image data that is used toconstruct an ultrasound image of the object, a relatively small amountof data may be transmitted compared to transmission of ultrasound rawdata. In this case, the communicator 110 may include only a local areacommunication module for pairing.

According to an embodiment, the communicator 110 may wirelessly receivestatus information regarding the paired wireless ultrasound probes 201through 204 respectively from the wireless ultrasound probes 201 through204. The communicator 110 may periodically receive status informationregarding each of the wireless ultrasound probes 201 through 204 tocheck a state thereof based on the status information. For example, thestatus information may include at least one of a wireless communicationfrequency, a connection type, a supported application, a wirelesscommunication method, a communication status, battery charginginformation, a remaining battery capacity, and a time left for use withrespect to each of the wireless ultrasound probes 201 through 204.

The controller 120 may control operations of the communicator 110 andthe display 130. In detail, the controller 120 may control thecommunicator 110 to wirelessly pair the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus100 with the wireless ultrasound probes 201 through 204 and wirelesslyreceive status information regarding the paired wireless ultrasoundprobes 201 through 204. Furthermore, the controller 120 may generate aUI indicating the status information regarding the wireless ultrasoundprobes 201 through 204, which are received via the communicator 110 andcontrol the display 130 to display the generated UI.

For example, the controller 120 may be formed as a hardware moduleincluding at least one of a central processing unit (CPU), amicroprocessor, a graphic processing unit, random-access memory (RAM),and read-only memory (ROM). In an embodiment, the controller 120 may beimplemented as an application processor (AP). The controller 120 mayalso be implemented as a hardware component such as a field-programmablegate array (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).However, embodiments are not limited thereto, and the controller 120 mayinclude components such as software components, object-oriented softwarecomponents, class components and task components, processes, functions,attributes, procedures, subroutines, segments of program code, drivers,firmware, micro codes, circuits, data, a database, data structures,tables, arrays, and variables.

The display 130 may display a UI indicating status information regardingeach of the wireless ultrasound probes 201 through 204 wirelessly pairedto the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100. According to an embodiment,the display 130 may display a graphical user interface (GUI) graphicallyrepresenting at least one of a wireless communication frequency, aconnection type, an executable application, a wireless communicationmethod, a communication status, battery charging information, aremaining battery capacity, and a time left for use with respect to eachof the wireless ultrasound probes 201 through 204. In an embodiment, thedisplay 130 may display a GUI indicating a data communication method forreceiving ultrasound raw data or image data acquired from imaging from awireless ultrasound probe activated among the wireless ultrasound probes201 through 204.

Furthermore, the display 130 may display characters respectivelyindicating ID information of the wireless ultrasound probes 201 through204 and thumbnail images graphically representing shapes of the wirelessultrasound probes 201 through 204.

The display 130 may be constructed by a physical device including atleast one of a cathode ray tube (CRT) display, a liquid crystal display(LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), an organic light-emitting diode(OLED) display, a field-emission display (FED), an LED display, a vacuumfluorescent display (VFD), a digital light processing (DLP) display, aflat panel display, a three-dimensional (3D) display, and a transparentdisplay, and embodiments are not limited thereto. According to anembodiment, the display 130 may be formed as a touch screen including atouch interface. When the display 130 is formed as a touch screen, thedisplay 130 may be integrated with a touch pad to receive a user touchinput.

Each of the wireless ultrasound probes 201 through 204 may transmitultrasound signals to an object and receive echo signals reflected fromthe object to produce reception signals. Each of the wireless ultrasoundprobes 201 through 204 may also perform image processing on thereception signals to thereby generate ultrasound image data. Thewireless ultrasound probes 201 through 204 may be wirelessly connectedto the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 simultaneously via thecommunicator 110. According to an embodiment, the wireless ultrasoundprobes 201 through 204 may transmit generated ultrasound image datawirelessly to the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 via thecommunicator 110.

Although not shown in FIG. 2, the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 mayfurther include a sound output unit. The sound output unit may output apreset sound when the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 is connectedwirelessly with the wireless ultrasound probes 201 through 204.According to an embodiment, the sound output unit may output differentsounds respectively according to ID information of the wirelessultrasound probes 201 through 204. For example, when the first andsecond wireless ultrasound probes 201 and 202 are respectively connectedto the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100, the sound output unit mayoutput first and second sounds, respectively.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a configuration of an ultrasound systemaccording to another embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 3, the ultrasound system according to the presentembodiment may include an ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100′ and aplurality of wireless ultrasound probes 201 through 204. The ultrasounddiagnosis apparatus 100′ shown in FIG. 3 includes the same components asthe controller 120 and the display 130 of the ultrasound diagnosisapparatus 100 described with reference to FIG. 2, except for acommunicator 110′, and thus descriptions that are already provided abovewith respect to FIG. 2 will be omitted here.

The communicator 110′ may include first through fourth wirelesscommunication modules 111 through 114. The first through fourth wirelesscommunication modules 111 through 114 may be paired one-to-one with thewireless ultrasound probes 201 through 204 by using at least one ofwireless communication methods including WLAN, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee,WFD, IrDA, BLE, NFC, WiBro, WiMAX, SWAP, WiGig, and RF communication.For example, the first through fourth wireless communication modules 111through 114 may respectively be paired with the first through fourthultrasound probes 201 through 204.

The first through fourth wireless communication modules 111 through 114may transmit or receive ultrasound image data to or from the firstthrough fourth wireless ultrasound probes 201 through 204.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method of operating an ultrasound diagnosisapparatus, according to an embodiment.

The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus is connected with a plurality ofwireless ultrasound probes by using a wireless communication method(operation S410). The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus may be connectedwirelessly with the wireless ultrasound probes by using at least one ofwireless communication methods including WLAN, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee,WFD, IrDA, BLE, NFC, WiBro, WiMAX, SWAP, WiGig, and RF communication. Inoperation S410, when the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus is “connected”with the wireless ultrasound probes, it may mean that the ultrasounddiagnosis apparatus is paired to use at least one of the wirelessultrasound probes. According to an embodiment, the wireless ultrasoundprobes connected to the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus may each bedifferent types of probes having different functions. However,embodiments are not limited thereto.

The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus receives status information from thewireless ultrasound probes (S420). According to an embodiment, theultrasound diagnosis apparatus may receive, by using a wirelesscommunication method, status information including at least one of IDinformation, a wireless communication frequency, a connection type, anexecutable application, a wireless communication method, a communicationstatus, battery charging information, a remaining battery capacity, anda time left for use with respect to each of the paired wirelessultrasound probes.

The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus may display a UI indicating thereceived status information regarding the wireless ultrasound probes(S430). According to an embodiment, the ultrasound diagnosis apparatusmay display a GUI including characters respectively indicating IDinformation of the wireless ultrasound probes and thumbnail imagesrespectively representing shapes of the wireless ultrasound probes.Furthermore, the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus may display a GUIgraphically representing at least one of a wireless communicationfrequency, a connection type, an executable application, a wirelesscommunication method, a communication status, battery charginginformation, a remaining battery capacity, and a time left for use withrespect to each of the paired wireless ultrasound probes.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method, performed by an ultrasound diagnosisapparatus 100, of transmitting or receiving a pairing signal andultrasound image data to or from a wireless ultrasound probe 200,according to an embodiment.

The wireless ultrasound probe 200 transmits, to the ultrasound diagnosisapparatus 100, insert information indicating its insertion into theultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 (operation S510). In an embodiment,the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 may include a holder into whichthe wireless ultrasound probe 200 is inserted. When the wirelessultrasound probe 200 is placed in the holder, the ultrasound diagnosisapparatus 100 may receive insert information and recognize the wirelessultrasound probe 200 placed therein based on the received insertinformation.

According to another embodiment, when the wireless ultrasound probe 200is located within a short distance corresponding to a preset distancefrom the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100, the ultrasound diagnosisapparatus 100 may identify the wireless ultrasound probe 200. Forexample, when the wireless ultrasound probe 200 includes an NFCcommunication module, the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 mayidentify the wireless ultrasound probe 200 by using NFC when theultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 is within a preset distance from thewireless ultrasound probe 200.

According to another embodiment, the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100may identify the wireless ultrasound probe 200 based on a user inputsignal input via a user input device (such as a button) mounted on thewireless ultrasound probe 200, e.g., by using a probe informationrecognition method based on an RFID, etc.

The wireless ultrasound probe 200 transmits a pairing signal to theultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 (operation S521), and the ultrasounddiagnosis apparatus 100 transmits a pairing signal to the wirelessultrasound probe 200 (operation S522).

The pairing signals in operations S521 and S522 may be exchanged betweenthe wireless ultrasound probe 200 and the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus100 by using at least one of wireless communication methods includingWLAN, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, WFD, IrDA, BLE, NFC, WiBro, WiMAX, SWAP,WiGig, and RF communication.

The wireless ultrasound probe 200 provides status information to theultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 (operation S530). According to anembodiment, the status information may include at least one of IDinformation, a wireless communication frequency, a connection type, anexecutable application, a wireless communication method, a communicationstatus, battery charging information, a remaining battery capacity, anda time left for use with respect the wireless ultrasound probe 200. Thewireless ultrasound probe 200 may transmit the status information to theultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 by using a wireless communicationmethod.

The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 displays a UI indicating thereceived status information regarding the wireless ultrasound probe 200(operation S540). In an embodiment, the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus100 may display a GUI indicating the status information on a display.

The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 transmits a beamforming controlsignal to the wireless ultrasound probe 200 (operation S550). Accordingto an embodiment, the wireless ultrasound probe 200 may be an ultrasoundprobe having a beamformer therein, and the ultrasound diagnosisapparatus 100 may transmit to the wireless ultrasound probe 200 a signalfor controlling the beamformer provided in the wireless ultrasound probe200 to irradiate ultrasound signals towards an object by using awireless communication method.

The wireless ultrasound probe 200 transmits ultrasound signals to theobject based on the received beamforming control signal and generatesultrasound image data based on ultrasound echo signals reflected fromthe object (operation S560).

The wireless ultrasound probe 200 transmits the generated ultrasoundimage data to the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 (operation S570).According to an embodiment, the wireless ultrasound probe 200 maytransmit the ultrasound image data generated by performinganalog-to-digital conversion on ultrasound raw data regarding the objectto the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 by using a 60-GHz local areawireless communication method. In another embodiment, the wirelessultrasound probe 200 may generate a final ultrasound image based on theultrasound image data regarding the object and transmit the generatedfinal ultrasound image to the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 byusing a wireless communication method such as Wi-fi, Bluetooth, etc.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example in which an ultrasound diagnosis apparatusdisplays status information regarding a plurality of wireless ultrasoundprobes, i.e., first through fourth wireless ultrasound probes 601through 604 connected thereto, according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 6, a display 600 may display in a first region 600-1 aUI including thumbnail images respectively representing shapes of thefirst through fourth wireless ultrasound probes 601 through 604connected to the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus and charactersrespectively indicating ID information of the first through fourthwireless ultrasound probes 601 through 604. As a component of theultrasound diagnosis apparatus, the display 600 may be attached to acontrol panel to display a UI, but embodiments are not limited thereto.The display 600 may display an ultrasound image of an object via one ofthe first through fourth wireless ultrasound probes 601 through 604. Thedisplay 600 may display in a second region 600-2 UIs used for operatingthe ultrasound diagnosis apparatus, e.g., for obtaining an ultrasoundimage of the object or manipulating the obtained ultrasound image byusing the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus.

A UI indicating status information regarding the first through fourthwireless ultrasound probes 601 through 604 wirelessly paired to theultrasound diagnosis apparatus may be displayed in the first region600-1. In an embodiment, the UI may be a GUI graphically representingstatus information. For example, the status information may include atleast one of a wireless connection status, a wireless communicationmethod, a wireless communication frequency, and a connection type withrespect to each of the first through fourth wireless ultrasound probes601 through 604.

For example, a first UI 610 indicating ID information of the firstwireless ultrasound probe 601, a second UI 620-1 indicating a status ofwireless connection between the first wireless ultrasound probe 601 andthe ultrasound diagnosis apparatus, and a third UI 630 indicating awireless communication method used to pair the first wireless ultrasoundprobe 601 with the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus may be displayed inthe first region 600-1 of the display 600. The first UI 610 indicatingthe ID information of the first wireless ultrasound probe 601 may bedisplayed as characters, but the second UI 620-1 may be a GUI indicatinga wireless connection status as the number of bar-shaped antennas. Thethird UI 630 may be a GUI composed of symbols indicating Wi-fi,Bluetooth, NFC, WiGig, etc. The number of bars in the second UI 620-1and the number of antennas in the third UI 630 may be symbols thatgraphically represent a status of wireless communication between thefirst wireless ultrasound probe 601 and the ultrasound diagnosisapparatus. For example, in the third UI 630 indicating pairing viaWi-fi, the more antennas that are filled in a fan-shaped antenna symbolmay mean the smoother Wi-fi pairing between the first wirelessultrasound probe 601 and the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the second through fourth wirelessultrasound probes 602 through 604 may be wirelessly paired with theultrasound diagnosis apparatus by using Bluetooth, NFC, and WiGig,respectively. Statuses of wireless communications between each of thesecond through fourth wireless ultrasound probes 602 through 604 and theultrasound diagnosis apparatus may respectively be displayed via firstUIs 620-2 through 620-4.

A fourth UI 640 indicating a method of data communication between theultrasound diagnosis apparatus and the fourth wireless ultrasound probe604 activated among the first through fourth wireless ultrasound probes601 through 604 may be displayed in the first region 600-1. A thumbnailimage of the fourth wireless ultrasound probe 604 that is the activatedwireless ultrasound probe and its neighborhood may be shown in aspecific color or shade to distinguish the fourth wireless ultrasoundprobe 604 from the first through third wireless ultrasound probes 601through 603 that are not activated. According to an embodiment, a UI 600a representing a state of wireless pairing with the ultrasound diagnosisapparatus and a UI 600 b representing a state in which an ultrasoundsignal is being transmitted to the object, i.e., an activated state, maybe indicated on the thumbnail image of the fourth wireless ultrasoundprobe 604.

According to an embodiment, the fourth wireless ultrasound probe 604 maytransmit ultrasound signals to the object, receive ultrasound echosignals reflected from the object, and perform analog-to-digitalconversion on the ultrasound echo signals to thereby generate ultrasoundraw data. The fourth wireless ultrasound probe 604 may transmit theultrasound raw data to the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus by using a60-GHz mmWave data communication method. In this case, a fourth UI 640may include a UI 640-1 indicating a status of data communication betweenthe fourth ultrasound probe 604 and the ultrasound diagnosis apparatusand a UI 640-2 indicating a method of transmission of ultrasound rawdata as “60 GHz”. The fourth UI 640 may be displayed on one side of thethumbnail image of the fourth wireless ultrasound probe 604 that is theactivated wireless ultrasound probe.

Furthermore, the display 600 may display in the first region 600-1 a UIindicating a state of a battery embedded in each of the first throughfourth wireless ultrasound probes 601 through 604 connected to theultrasound diagnosis apparatus, whether the battery is being charged, atime left for use, etc. For example, fifth UIs 650-1 and 650-2respectively indicating that batteries respectively embedded in thefirst and second wireless ultrasound probes 601 and 602 are beingcharged may be displayed in the first region 600-1. In the embodimentshown in FIG. 6, the fifth UIs 650-1 and 650-2 may allow the user toeasily identify that the first and second wireless ultrasound probes 601and 602 are being charged.

In an embodiment, a battery embedded in the third wireless ultrasoundprobe 603 may be fully charged to 100% while a battery in the fourthwireless ultrasound probe 604 may have 60% charge left. In this case,the display 600 may display fifth UIs 650-3 and 650-4 indicating theremaining battery capacities of the third and fourth wireless ultrasoundprobes 603 and 604 as geometric shapes or symbols and sixth UIs 660-3and 660-4 indicating them as percentage (%) figures or characters.

According to an embodiment, the display 600 may display seventh UIs670-3 and 670-4 respectively indicating remaining usable times of thethird and fourth wireless ultrasound probes 603 and 604.

While FIG. 6 shows that the display 600 simultaneously displays secondUIs 620-1 through 620-4 indicating a wireless connection status, thethird UI 630 indicating a wireless communication method, the fourth UI640 indicating a wireless communication frequency, the fifth UIs 650-1and 650-2 indicating whether batteries are being charged, the fifth UIs650-3 and 650-4 and sixth UIs 660-3 and 660-4 indicating remainingbattery capacities, and the seventh UIs 670-3 and 670-4 indicatingremaining usable times, embodiments are not limited thereto. In anembodiment, status information may include at least one of IDinformation, a wireless communication frequency, a connection type, asupported application, a wireless communication method, a communicationstatus, battery charging information, a remaining battery capacity, anda time left for use with respect to each of the first through fourthwireless ultrasound probes 601 through 604 paired to the ultrasounddiagnosis apparatus by using a wireless communication method.Furthermore, UIs indicating the above status information may bedisplayed simultaneously or separately.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams illustrating examples in which anultrasound diagnosis apparatus displays information about a status ofits communication with a plurality of wireless ultrasound probesconnected thereto, according to embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 7A, a wireless ultrasound probe 701 may be connectedwirelessly to an ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 700. In an embodiment,the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 702 may be a cart type apparatus, butis not limited thereto.

According to an embodiment, the wireless ultrasound probe 701 may bewirelessly paired to the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 702 by using acommunication method such as Wi-fi, WLAN, or Bluetooth. Furthermore, thewireless ultrasound probe 701 may transmit ultrasound raw data generatedusing ultrasound echo signals acquired from the object to the ultrasounddiagnosis apparatus 702. In this case, the wireless ultrasound probe 701may transmit the ultrasound raw data wirelessly to the ultrasounddiagnosis apparatus 702 by using a 60-GHz mmWave data communicationmethod. The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 702 may perform imageprocessing on the received ultrasound raw data to generate an ultrasoundimage.

A display 710 of the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 702 may displayfirst through fifth UIs 721 through 725 indicating status information ofthe wireless ultrasound probe 701. For example, the display 710 maydisplay the first UI 721 indicating ID information of the wirelessultrasound probe 701, the second UI 722 indicating a method of pairingwith the wireless ultrasound probe 701, the third UI 723 indicating astatus of data communication between the wireless ultrasound probe 701and the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 702, the fourth UI 724 indicatinga method of performing data communication with the ultrasound diagnosisapparatus 702, and the fifth UI 725 indicating a status of a battery inthe wireless ultrasound probe 701.

Although the second and fourth UIs 722 and 724 both indicate methods ofwireless communication between the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 702and the wireless ultrasound probe 701, they actually indicate differenttypes of communication methods. In detail, the second UI 722 indicates awireless communication method such as Wi-fi, Bluetooth, etc., via whichthe wireless ultrasound probe 701 is wirelessly paired to the ultrasounddiagnosis apparatus 702, whereas the fourth UI 724 indicates a datacommunication method for transmitting ultrasound raw data generated bythe wireless ultrasound probe 701 to the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus702.

The second UI 722 and a third UI 723 may both indicate a status ofwireless communication between the wireless ultrasound probe 701 and theultrasound diagnosis apparatus 702. For example, the second UI 722 mayindicate that the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 702 is wirelesslypaired with the wireless ultrasound probe 701 via Wi-fi whilesimultaneously displaying a status of the wireless pairing. In otherwords, when the number of fan-shaped antennas in the second UI 722increases, it may mean that wireless pairing is performed more smoothly.Similarly, the third UI 723 may indicate status information about datacommunication between the wireless ultrasound probe 701 and theultrasound diagnosis apparatus 702 based on the number of bar-shapedantennas. For example, as the number of bar-shaped antennas in the thirdUI 723 increases, ultrasound raw data generated by the wirelessultrasound probe 701 may be transmitted to the ultrasound diagnosisapparatus 702 more smoothly.

Referring to FIG. 7B, a wireless ultrasound probe 703 may be wirelesslyconnected to an ultrasound imaging apparatus 704. In an embodiment, theultrasound imaging apparatus 704 may be a tablet pc, but is not limitedthereto.

The wireless ultrasound probe 703 may be paired with the ultrasoundimaging apparatus 704 by using a communication method such as Wi-fi orBluetooth. The wireless ultrasound probe 703 may include both abeamformer and an image processor, and perform analog-to-digitalconversion of ultrasound echo signals and then post-processing of theresulting signals to thereby generate ultrasound image data regarding anobject. In this case, the wireless ultrasound probe 703 may transmit theultrasound image data to the ultrasound imaging apparatus 704 by using alocal area wireless communication method such as Wi-fi, WLAN, orBluetooth. The wireless ultrasound probe 703 may transmit data having aresolution suitable for a table PC to the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus704 after performing additional image processing on ultrasound raw data.

A display 730 of the ultrasound imaging apparatus 704 may display UIs741 through 743 indicating status information of the wireless ultrasoundprobe 703. For example, the display 730 may display the first UI 741indicating ID information of the wireless ultrasound probe 703, thesecond UI 742 indicating a method of pairing and data communication withthe wireless ultrasound probe 703, and the third UI 743 indicating astatus of a battery in the wireless ultrasound probe 703. Unlike thesecond UI 722 described with reference to FIG. 7A, the second UI 742 mayindicate both a method of wireless pairing between the wirelessultrasound probe 703 and the ultrasound imaging apparatus 704 and amethod of communicating ultrasound image data therebetween.

In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the wireless ultrasoundprobe 701 and 703 may generate only ultrasound raw data regarding theobject or acquire ultrasound image data by performing post-processing ofthe ultrasound raw data and transmit the ultrasound raw data and theultrasound image data respectively to the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus702 and the ultrasound imaging apparatus 704. The wireless ultrasoundprobe 701 according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 7A transmits to theultrasound diagnosis apparatus 702 ultrasound raw data with higher imagequality and higher frame rate than in the embodiment shown in FIG. 7B.Thus, the wireless ultrasound probe 701 may use a 60-GHz mmWave datacommunication method for the transmission. In the embodiment shown inFIG. 7B, the wireless ultrasound probe 703 generates ultrasound imagedata with low image quality and low frame rate by performingpost-processing of ultrasound raw data and transmits the ultrasoundimage data to the ultrasound imaging apparatus 704 such as a tablet PC.In this case, the wireless ultrasound probe 703 may use a communicationmethod such as Wi-fi or Bluetooth for the transmission.

According to the embodiments described with reference to FIGS. 7A and7B, when the wireless ultrasound probes 701 and 703 transmits ultrasoundraw data or ultrasound image data by using different types ofcommunication methods, UIs (722 and 723 of FIG. 7A and 742 of FIG. 7B)indicating data communication methods are respectively displayed on thedisplays 710 and 730. This allows the user to easily identify a datacommunication method, thereby increasing user convenience.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a method, performed by an ultrasound diagnosisapparatus 100, of acquiring ultrasound image data by using a firstwireless ultrasound probe 201 selected based on a user input, accordingto an embodiment.

The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 receives a user input for usingat least one of a plurality of wireless ultrasound probes (operationS810). According to an embodiment, the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus100 may include a user input interface for receiving a user input. Theuser input interface may include hardware components such as a key pad,a mouse, a trackball, a touch pad, a touch screen, and a jog switch, butare not limited thereto. In operation S810, the ultrasound diagnosisapparatus 100 may receive a user input of selecting the first wirelessultrasound probe 201 among the plurality of wireless ultrasound probesvia the user input interface.

The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 transmits an activation signal tothe first wireless ultrasound probe 201 (operation S820). In this case,an “activation signal” is a signal for operating the first wirelessultrasound probe 201 selected based on the user input to transmitultrasound signals to an object and receive ultrasound echo signalsreflected from the object. The activation signal is different from apairing signal (operation 521 of FIG. 5) for simply connecting theultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 with the first wireless ultrasoundprobe 201 in a wireless manner.

According to an embodiment, the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 maytransmit the activation signal to the first wireless ultrasound probe201 by using at least one of wireless data communication techniquesincluding a WLAN, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, WFD, IrDA, BLE, NFC, WiBro,WiMAX, SWAP, WiGig, and RF communication.

The first wireless ultrasound probe 201 transmits an activationcompletion signal and an ultrasound emission preparation signal to theultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 (operation S830).

The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 displays the first wirelessultrasound probe 201 to be distinguished from the unselected otherwireless ultrasound probes (operation S840). In an embodiment, theultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 may include a display configure todisplay a UI indicating ID information and thumbnail images of thewireless ultrasound probes including the first wireless ultrasound probe201. The display may display the first wireless ultrasound probe 201that has transmitted the activation signal and the ultrasound emissionpreparation signal to be distinguished from the other wirelessultrasound probes, e.g., by using a different color, by adding a shadetherein, or by displaying ID information in bold characters.

The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 transmits a beamforming controlsignal to the first wireless ultrasound probe 201 (operation S850).According to an embodiment, the first wireless ultrasound probe 201 maybe an ultrasound probe having a beamformer therein, and the ultrasounddiagnosis apparatus 100 may transmit to the wireless ultrasound probe201 a signal for controlling the beamformer provided in the firstwireless ultrasound probe 201 to irradiate ultrasound signals towardsthe object by using a wireless communication method.

The first wireless ultrasound probe 201 transmits ultrasound signals tothe object based on the received beamforming control signal and receivesultrasound echo signals reflected from the object (operation S860).

The first wireless ultrasound probe 201 generates ultrasound image databy performing image processing on the received ultrasound echo signals(operation S870).

The first wireless ultrasound probe 201 transmits the generatedultrasound image data to the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100(operation S880). According to an embodiment, the first wirelessultrasound probe 201 may transmit the ultrasound image data generated byperforming analog-to-digital conversion on ultrasound raw data regardingthe object to the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 100 by using a 60-GHzlocal area wireless communication method. In another embodiment, thefirst wireless ultrasound probe 201 may generate a final ultrasoundimage based on the ultrasound image data regarding the object andtransmit the generated final ultrasound image to the ultrasounddiagnosis apparatus 100 by using a wireless communication method such asWi-fi, Bluetooth, etc.

FIG. 9 illustrates a UI displayed on a display 900 of an ultrasounddiagnosis apparatus, the UI indicating a second wireless ultrasoundprobe 902 activated among a plurality of wireless ultrasound probes,i.e., first through fourth wireless ultrasound probes 901 through 904based on a user input, according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 9, the display 900 may display only the secondwireless ultrasound probe 902, which is activated among the firstthrough fourth wireless ultrasound probes 901 through 904 based on auser input, to be distinguished from the other wireless ultrasoundprobes, i.e., the first, third, and fourth wireless ultrasound probes901, 903, and 904. According to an embodiment, the display 900 maydisplay only a region including ID information and a thumbnail image ofthe second wireless ultrasound probe 902 in shade or in a differentcolor from those for regions showing the other wireless ultrasoundprobes 901, 903, and 904. Furthermore, the display 900 may display anactivation UI 910 indicating an activated wireless ultrasound probe inthe region where the ID information and the thumbnail image of thesecond wireless ultrasound probe 902 are displayed. Although not shownin FIG. 9, the display 900 may display characters representing the IDinformation of the activated second wireless ultrasound probe 902 inbold type unlike for those representing ID information of the otherwireless ultrasound probes 901, 903, and 904.

According to the embodiment described with reference to FIG. 9, the usermay intuitively identify only the currently activated second wirelessultrasound probe 902 from among the first through fourth wirelessultrasound probes 901 through 904 that are wirelessly paired to theultrasound diagnosis apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a configuration of an ultrasound diagnosisapparatus 1000 including a wireless ultrasound probe 200, according toan embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 10, the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 1000 may beconnected with a wireless ultrasound probe 200 via a network 300.

The wireless ultrasound probe 200 may include a transmitter 211, atransducer 210, a receiver 212, a controller 220, an image processor230, and a communicator 240. Although FIG. 10 shows that the wirelessultrasound probe 200 includes both the transmitter 211 and the receiver212, according to an implemented configuration, the wireless ultrasoundprobe 200 may include some of the components of the transmitter 211 andthe receiver 212 while the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 1000 may alsoinclude some of them.

The transducer 210 may include a plurality of transducer elements. Theplurality of transducer elements 211 transmit ultrasound signals to anobject 10 in response to transmitting signals received from thetransmitter 211. The transducer elements may receive ultrasound signalsreflected from the object 10 to generate reception signals.

The controller 220 controls the transmitter 211 to generate transmittingsignals to be respectively applied to the transducer elements based on aposition and a focal point of the transducer elements.

The controller 220 controls the receiver 212 to generate ultrasound databy performing analog-to-digital conversion on the reception signalsreceived from the transducer 210 and summing the analog-to-digitalconverted reception signals based on a position and a focal point of thetransducer elements.

The image processor 230 may generate an ultrasound image based on thegenerated ultrasound data.

The communicator 240 may wirelessly transmit the generated ultrasounddata or ultrasound image to the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 1000 viaa wireless network. Alternatively, the communicator 240 may receive acontrol signal and data from the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 1000.

The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 1000 may receive ultrasound data oran ultrasound image from the wireless ultrasound probe 200. Theultrasound diagnosis apparatus 1000 may include a communicator 1100, acontroller 1200, a display 1300, an image processor 1400, an inputinterface 1500, and a storage 1600.

The controller 1200 may control all operations of the ultrasounddiagnosis apparatus 1000 and flow of signals between the internalelements of the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 1000. The controller 1200may include a memory for storing a program or data to perform functionsof the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 1000 and a processor forprocessing the program or data. Furthermore, the controller 1200 maycontrol the operation of the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 1000 byreceiving a control signal from the input interface 1500 or an externalapparatus.

The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 1000 may include the communicator1100 and may be connected to external apparatuses, for example, servers,medical apparatuses, and portable devices such as smart phones, tabletPCs, wearable devices, etc., via the communicator 1100.

The communicator 1100 may include at least one element capable ofcommunicating with the external apparatuses. For example, thecommunicator 1100 may include at least one of a local area communicationmodule, a wired communication module, and a wireless communicationmodule.

The communicator 1100 may receive a control signal and data from anexternal apparatus and transmit the received control signal to thecontroller 1200 such that the controller 1200 may control the ultrasounddiagnosis apparatus 1000 in response to the received control signal.

Alternatively, the controller 1200 may transmit a control signal to theexternal apparatus via the communicator 1100 to control the externalapparatus in response to the control signal from the controller 1200.

For example, the external apparatus may process data from the externalapparatus in response to the control signal from the controller 1200received via the communicator 1100.

A program for controlling the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 1000 may beinstalled in the external apparatus. The program may include commandlanguages for performing part of operation of the controller 1200 or theentire operation thereof.

The program may be pre-installed in the external apparatus or may beinstalled by a user of the external apparatus by downloading the programfrom a server that provides applications. The server that providesapplications may include a recording medium on which the program isstored.

The image processor 1400 may generate an ultrasound image by usingultrasound data received from the wireless ultrasound probe 200.

The display 1300 may display an ultrasound image received from thewireless ultrasound probe 200 and an ultrasound image generated by theultrasound diagnosis apparatus 1000. The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus1000 may include two or more displays 1300 according to its implementedconfiguration. Furthermore, the display 1300 may be combined with atouch panel to form a touch screen.

The storage 1600 may store various data or programs for driving andcontrolling the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 1000, input and/or outputultrasound data, ultrasound images, etc.

The input interface 1500 receives a user input for controlling theultrasound diagnosis apparatus 1000. For example, the user input mayinclude an input for manipulating a button, a keypad, a mouse, atrackball, a jog switch, or a knop, an input for touching a touchpad ora touch screen, a voice input, a motion input, and an input of biometricinformation such as iris recognition or fingerprint recognition, butembodiments are not limited thereto.

Examples of the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 1000 according to anembodiment will now be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 11Athrough 11C.

FIGS. 11A, 11B, and 11C are diagrams illustrating ultrasound diagnosisapparatuses according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIGS. 11A and 11B, the ultrasound diagnosis apparatuses1000 a and 1000 b may include a main display 1210 and a sub-display1220. At least one among the main display 1210 and the sub-display 1220may include a touch screen. The main display 1210 and the sub-display1220 may display ultrasound images and/or various information processedby the ultrasound diagnosis apparatuses 1000 a and 1000 b. The maindisplay 1210 and the sub-display 1220 may provide graphical userinterfaces (GUI), thereby receiving user's inputs of data to control theultrasound diagnosis apparatuses 1000 a and 1000 b. For example, themain display 1210 may display an ultrasound image and the sub-display1220 may display a control panel to control display of the ultrasoundimage as a GUI. The sub-display 1220 may receive an input of data tocontrol the display of an image through the control panel displayed as aGUI. The ultrasound diagnosis apparatuses 1000 a and 1000 b may controlthe display of the ultrasound image on the main display 1210 by usingthe input control data.

Referring to FIG. 11B, the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 1000 b mayinclude a control panel 1650. The control panel 1650 may includebuttons, trackballs, jog switches, or knobs, and may receive data tocontrol the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 1000 b from the user. Forexample, the control panel 1650 may include a time gain compensation(TGC) button 1710 and a freeze button 1720. The TGC button 1710 is toset a TGC value for each depth of an ultrasound image. Also, when aninput of the freeze button 1720 is detected during scanning anultrasound image, the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 1000 b may keepdisplaying a frame image at that time point.

The buttons, trackballs, jog switches, and knobs included in the controlpanel 1650 may be provided as a GUI to the main display 1210 or thesub-display 1220.

Referring to FIG. 11C, the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 1000 c mayinclude a portable device. An example of the portable ultrasounddiagnosis apparatus 1000 c may include, for example, smart phonesincluding probes and applications, laptop computers, personal digitalassistants (PDAs), or tablet PCs, but an exemplary embodiment is notlimited thereto.

The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus 1000 c may include the probe 2000 anda main body 3000. The probe 2000 may be connected to one side of themain body 3000 by wire or wirelessly. The main body 3000 may include atouch screen 1450. The touch screen 1450 may display an ultrasoundimage, various pieces of information processed by the ultrasounddiagnosis apparatus 1000 c, and a GUI.

The embodiments of the present invention can be written as computerprograms and can be implemented in general-use digital computers thatexecute the programs using a computer-readable recording medium. Theabove-described embodiments of the present disclosure may be embodied inform of a computer-readable recording medium for storing computerexecutable command languages and data. The command languages may bestored in form of program codes and, when executed by a processor, mayperform a certain operation by generating a certain program module.Also, when executed by a processor, the command languages may performcertain operations of the disclosed embodiments.

Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include magneticstorage media (e.g., ROM, floppy disks, hard disks, etc.), opticalrecording media (e.g., CD-ROMs or DVDs), etc.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and describedwith reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understoodby those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form anddetails may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present invention as defined by the following claims.Accordingly, the above embodiments and all aspects thereof are examplesonly and are not limiting.

What is claimed is:
 1. An ultrasound diagnosis apparatus comprising: adisplay; a communicator configured to connect to a plurality of wirelessultrasound probes by using a wireless communication method; a controllerconfigured to: control the communicator to wirelessly pair theultrasound diagnosis apparatus with the plurality of wireless ultrasoundprobes, wirelessly receive status information regarding the pairedplurality of wireless ultrasound probes, and control the display todisplay characters indicating identifications of each of the pluralityof wireless ultrasound probes, thumbnail images representing shapes ofeach of the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes, and user interfaces(UIs) indicating the received status information regarding the pluralityof wireless ultrasound probes, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to obtain, from an activated wireless ultrasound probe amongthe plurality of wireless ultrasound probes, ultrasound raw data orimage data acquired by imaging from the activated wireless ultrasoundprobe and control the display to display the activated wirelessultrasound probe as distinguished from unactivated wireless ultrasoundprobes from among the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes.
 2. Theultrasound diagnosis apparatus of claim 1, wherein the communicatorcomprises wireless communication modules respectively paired one-to-onewith the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes and data communicationmodules configured to respectively transmit and receive ultrasound imagedata to and from the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes.
 3. Theultrasound diagnosis apparatus of claim 1, wherein the communicator isconnected with the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes by using atleast one of wireless communication methods comprising a Wireless LocalArea Network (WLAN), Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), Bluetooth, Zigbee, Wi-FiDirect (WFD), Infrared Data Association (IrDA), Bluetooth Low Energy(BLE), Near Field Communication (NFC), Wireless Broadband Internet(WiBro), World Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), SharedWireless Access Protocol (SWAP), Wireless Gigabit Alliance (WiGig), andradio frequency (RF) communication.
 4. The ultrasound diagnosisapparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured tocontrol the communicator to acquire insert information about a wirelessultrasound probe inserted into a holder of the ultrasound diagnosisapparatus, among the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes, detect thewireless ultrasound probe inserted into the holder, based on the insertinformation, and control the display to display connection informationregarding the wireless ultrasound probe detected among the plurality ofwireless ultrasound probes.
 5. The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the UIs indicating the status information includes atleast one of an identification (ID), a wireless communication frequency,a connection type, a supported application, the wireless communicationmethod, a communication status, battery charging information, aremaining battery capacity, and a time left for use with respect to eachof the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes.
 6. The ultrasounddiagnosis apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to control the display to display a UI indicating a type ofthe wireless communication method used to transmit and receiveultrasound data to and from the activated wireless ultrasound probe. 7.The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a userinput interface configured to receive a user input of selecting one ofthe plurality of wireless ultrasound probes, wherein the controller isfurther configured to control the communicator to transmit an activationsignal for operating a first wireless ultrasound probe selected amongthe plurality of wireless ultrasound probes, based on the user input totransmit ultrasound signals to an object, and control the display todisplay the first wireless ultrasound probe that has received theactivation signal to be distinguished from unselected ones of theplurality of wireless ultrasound probes.
 8. The ultrasound diagnosisapparatus of claim 7, wherein the controller is further configured togenerate a beamformer control signal for controlling a beamformerincluded in each of the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes andcontrol the communicator to transmit the generated beamformer controlsignal to the activated first wireless ultrasound probe.
 9. Theultrasound diagnosis apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a soundoutput unit configured to output a preset sound when the plurality ofwireless ultrasound probes are connected wirelessly to the ultrasounddiagnosis apparatus.
 10. A method of operating an ultrasound diagnosisapparatus, the method comprising: connecting a plurality of differentwireless ultrasound probes with the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus byusing a wireless communication method; receiving status informationregarding the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes; and displayingcharacters indicating identifications of each of the plurality ofwireless ultrasound probes, thumbnail images representing shapes of eachof the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes, and user interfaces(UIs) indicating the received status information regarding the pluralityof wireless ultrasound probes, wherein the method further comprising:obtaining, from an activated wireless ultrasound probe from among theplurality of wireless ultrasound probes, ultrasound raw data or imagedata acquired by imaging from the activated wireless ultrasound probe;and displaying the activated wireless ultrasound probe as distinguishedfrom unactivated wireless ultrasound probes from among the plurality ofwireless ultrasound probes.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein theconnecting of the plurality of different wireless ultrasound probes withthe ultrasound diagnosis apparatus comprises: pairing wirelesscommunication modules in the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus; one-to-onewith the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes; and transmitting andreceiving ultrasound image data respectively to and from the pluralityof wireless ultrasound probes.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein theconnecting of the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes with theultrasound diagnosis apparatus comprises connecting the plurality ofwireless ultrasound probes with the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus byusing at least one of wireless communication methods comprising aWireless Local Area Network (WLAN), wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi),Bluetooth, Zigbee, Wi-Fi Direct (WFD), Infrared Data Association (IrDA),Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Near Field Communication (NFC), WirelessBroadband Internet (WiBro), World Interoperability for Microwave Access(WiMAX), Shared Wireless Access Protocol (SWAP), Wireless GigabitAlliance (WiGig), and radio frequency (RF) communication.
 13. The methodof claim 10, wherein the connecting of the plurality of wirelessultrasound probes with the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus comprises:acquiring insert information about a wireless ultrasound probe insertedinto a holder of the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus, among the pluralityof wireless ultrasound probes; detecting the wireless ultrasound probeinserted into the holder, based on the insert information; anddisplaying pairing information regarding the wireless ultrasound probedetected among the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes.
 14. Themethod of claim 10, wherein the UIs indicating the status informationincludes at least one of an identification (ID), a wirelesscommunication frequency, a connection type, a supported application, thewireless communication method, a communication status, battery charginginformation, a remaining battery capacity, and a time left for use withrespect to each of the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes.
 15. Themethod of claim 10, wherein the displaying of the characters, thethumbnail images, and the UIs comprises displaying a UI indicating atype of the wireless communication method used to transmit and receiveultrasound data to and from the activated wireless ultrasound probe. 16.The method of claim 10, further comprising: receiving a user input ofselecting one of the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes;transmitting an activation signal for operating a first wirelessultrasound probe selected among the plurality of wireless ultrasoundprobes based on the user input to transmit ultrasound signals to anobject; and displaying the first wireless ultrasound probe that hasreceived the activation signal to be distinguished from unselected onesof the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes.
 17. The method of claim16, further comprising generating a beamformer control signal forcontrolling a beamformer included in each of the plurality of wirelessultrasound probes and transmitting the generated beamformer controlsignal to the activated first wireless ultrasound probe.
 18. The methodof claim 10, further comprising outputting a preset sound when theplurality of wireless ultrasound probes are connected wirelessly to theultrasound diagnosis apparatus.
 19. A computer-readable recording mediumhaving recorded thereon a program to be executed on a computer, theprogram comprising instructions for performing operations of: connectinga plurality of different wireless ultrasound probes with an ultrasounddiagnosis apparatus by using a wireless communication method; receivingstatus information regarding the plurality of wireless ultrasoundprobes; and displaying characters indicating identifications of each ofthe plurality of wireless ultrasound probes, thumbnail imagesrepresenting shapes of each of the plurality of wireless ultrasoundprobes, and user interfaces (UIs) indicating the received statusinformation regarding the plurality of wireless ultrasound probes,wherein the method further comprising: obtaining, from an activatedwireless ultrasound probe from among the plurality of wirelessultrasound probes, ultrasound raw data or image data acquired by imagingfrom the activated wireless ultrasound probe; and displaying theactivated wireless ultrasound probe as distinguished from unactivatedwireless ultrasound probes from among the plurality of wirelessultrasound probes.